I have two dogs and two cats. The cats are indoor only and I want the dogs to be able to come and go at will. I've researched online and found electronically keyed very expensive 'Star Trek' style dog doors that are $500+, which is too pricey for me. Does anyone have an alternative or DIY method for achieving this?
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A search for "electronic dog door" and/or "selective dog door" turns up several products ranging from $80 to $200 (though they are others that go up to $500), depending on size you need, for example:
There's lots of small selective cat doors, they do seem to get much more expensive as you go bigger. As far as DIY, there are several ways to do this, and the complexity will really depend on exactly what you do, and how much experience you have doing electronics and embedded programming. An instructable on an RFID cat door may get you started. Effectively, you just need to buy/build the actual door, which is capable of being locked by some mechanism (I would suggest not using one of the flexible flap ones). Then you need a lock mechanism that can be controlled electronically, such as a solenoid, linear actuator, or servomotor. Finally, you need the sensor and control circuitry. An Arduino is probably a good staring place for the controller. For the sensor, RFID has a lot of benefits, but as some of the off-the-shelf products show, you could also use infrared and/or magnetic sensors. I would think those would be more finicky to get working reliably, whereas RFID is pretty simple: just mount the antenna so it can pick up the tag attached to the dog's collar when close to the door. Here's another instructable on interfacing RFID to the Ardunio. All that needs is an output hooked up to the lock mechanism you build, and the software to hold the lock open for a few seconds after detecting a valid RFID tag. Note that the hardware to do this DIY isn't necessarily cheap, and in fact, probably approaches the $100-200 price tag on some of the off-the-shelf doors. Great learning experience but don't expect to save much cash DIY here. |
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Very interesting problem. It seems to me that if you REALLY want to keep the cats inside (no slip ups, as we would want with our cats) then there is not a simple solution. If the cats get along with the dogs (I am assuming they do), then when the dog with the magnetic collar (or RFID, or whatever) gets near and activates the door, the cat could quickly dart out through the open door/flap. If you wanted the pet "valve" to work the other way, it would be simple - the dogs are larger, so you can use a smaller door. But the opposite is the trick. Dogs are bigger, but cats can easily stretch up or jump up to a higher door. A weight sensitive mat might let you discriminate between the dogs and cats, but if both cats get on the mat at the same time, that might be enough to trigger the door (depends on how big your cats are). For fifty pound dogs, maybe that is not a worry, but again, the cats could still dash out. It almost seems you need a dog door with the wiring reversed, so that when the trigger mechanism on the collar comes near the sensor, the door locks. Put the trigger collars on the cats. Then the door allows free entry/exit for the dogs at all times, but if the cats approach it locks. That seems it would work and might only require minimal DIY, a little rewiring of the door mechanism, and maybe not too involved for a simple magnetic sensor door. Hope this helps. |
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I trained my dog from darting out the front door by placing a spray bottle full of water by the door. Every time I left and the dog was too close, I sprayed just a little water on his face. I placed the water bottle on my porch so that when I got home and he was right at the door, he got a little spray on the face and backed up. It worked perfectly, and I no longer have to carry a spray bottle. I used this same method on my cat. Now when I open the door to let the dog out, I don't have to chase the cat, and no one gets hurt. |
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Not that this is necessarily a pet-friendly solution, but perhaps some good old fashioned Operant Conditioning is in order. The trick is to keep the cats away from the door. Perhaps you should rig the cats up to an electronic pet boundary. After a few zaps for getting to close to the door they are bound to become averse to the idea of approaching it. |
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